A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term also used in Christianity.
The Western Jewish History Center existed as part of the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California, from 1967 to 2010. It is now the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, administered as part of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Judah Leon Magnes was a prominent Reform rabbi in both the United States of America and Mandatory Palestine. He is best remembered as a leader in the pacifist movement of the World War I period, his advocacy of a binational Jewish-Arab state in Palestine, and as one of the most widely recognized voices of 20th century American Reform Judaism. Magnes served as the first chancellor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1925), and later as its president (1935–1948).
Temple Beth-El is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 5 Old Mill Road in the village of Great Neck, Long Island, Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Founded in 1928, it is the oldest synagogue in Great Neck.
The 19th century saw Jews, like many other people, moving to the American West.
Temple Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2808 Summit Street in Oakland, California, in the United States. Founded in 1875, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in the East San Francisco Bay region.
Congregation Beth Israel is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue located at 989 West 28th Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in 1925, but did not formally incorporate until 1932. Its first rabbi was Ben Zion Bokser, hired that year. He was succeeded the following year by Samuel Cass (1933–1941). Other rabbis included David Kogen (1946–1955), Bert Woythaler (1956–1963), and Wilfred Solomon, who served for decades starting in 1964.
Congregation Beth Israel is a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Berkeley, California, in the United States. Established in 1924 as the Berkeley Hebrew Center, it traces its origins to the First Hebrew Congregation of Berkeley, founded in 1909. It was Berkeley's first synagogue and remains its oldest. Lay-led for four decades, it hired its first rabbi, Saul Berman, in 1963.
Congregation Am Tikvah is a combined Conservative and Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 625 Brotherhood Way in San Francisco, California, in the United States. The congregation was formed in 2021 as the result of the merger of the Conservative B'nai Emunah and the Reform Beth Israel Judea congregations, with the latter formed in 1969 through a merger of the Conservative Congregation Beth Israel and the Reform Temple Judea. The congregation is affiliated with both the Union for Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
The Union Prayer Book was a Siddur published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to serve the needs of the Reform Judaism movement in the United States.
Joseph Asher (1921–1990) was an American rabbi born in Germany, known for his advocacy of reconciliation between the Jews and the Germans in the post-Holocaust era, and for his support for the civil rights movement in the United States. He was senior rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco for 19 years.
Congregation Sherith Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in San Francisco, California, in the United States. Founded in 1851 during California’s Gold Rush period, it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. In more modern times, the congregation widely known for its innovative approach to worship and lifecycle celebrations. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its historic sanctuary building, completed in 1905, is one of San Francisco's most prominent architectural landmarks.
Fred Rosenbaum is an American author, historian and adult educator, specializing in the history of the Jewish community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Rosenbaum has been called a "superb storyteller". He is a founder and the director of Lehrhaus Judaica in Berkeley, California, described as "the largest Jewish adult education center in the western United States".
Louis Israel Newman was an American Reform rabbi, and author. While working in New York City, Newman later became a member of the Zionist Revisionist movement. He worked as a rabbi in San Francisco, Berkeley, New York City, and Waltham, Massachusetts. Newman was known for his progressive views, his involvement in the Zionist Revisionist movement, and his prolific writing, which included books on Jewish history, theology, and identity.
Philip Nettre Lilienthal (1850–1908) was an American banker and philanthropist. He served as a director of the California Title Insurance & Trust Company of San Francisco, the San Francisco Free Library, Union Iron Works, and was President of the Philharmonic Society. He co-founded the Russian Jewish Alliance with Rabbi Jacob Voorsanger which assisted Jews who had fled Russia for the United States.
The history of the Jews in San Francisco began with the California Gold Rush in the second half of the 19th-century.
Martin Abraham Meyer was an American rabbi.
Henry Abraham Henry was a British-American rabbi, educator, and Hebraist. He was the first Orthodox rabbi to serve the American West.
